Sigh, here is a quote by David Goyer during comic con: "We're already in pre-production," he revealed
despite the project only being confirmed shortly before the release of 'Man of Steel'.
Honestly I will say this one more time WB wouldn't have hired the same team that did MOS if they weren't satisfied with the film's performance. Nuff said!
The studio was clear that if MOS is successful then it would serve as a launching pad for the DC universe, which is happening.
To go up against Avengers, star wars and lets not forget bond and finding nemo sequel in what is now recognized as one of the biggest and potentially most lucrative box office year (2015) in years WB needs their top guns. Despite its devisive nature, MOS's sequel has potential to do big box office numbers but I don't think anyone would fool themselves into thinking that it would stand a chance against avengers 2 or starwars, its a fact and there is no shame on superman or MOS to admit as much.
Lastly people are looking at this like "oh WB needs batman to save superman!" which is funny since batman's acclaimed reboot (BB) didn't get any where near the numbers that superman's reboot has. Make no mistake WB needs superman to rev up interest in their potential Batman reboot, which will have a serious mountain to climb (it will take audiences a long time to get over Nolan and his magic touch) and by attaching batman to a superman sequel it would feel much less forced.